The Message
by DelicateFuckingFlower
Summary: Standing there she couldn't even remember what the fight was about, she couldn't remember the lead up, she couldn't remember what words were yelled, or what things had been broken, but she could easily remember the aftermath. One-shot.


**The Message**

 **Hey Humans! Yas! I'm back again with another one-shot! I know you guys want Wild Jace and I promise I'm getting there, I'm just trying to get a couple of chapters ahead before a start posting because when I write a chapter then post it I automatically realise there was a part I wish I had included in the last chapter, so this way I'm trying to limit it haha but I've given myself a deadline of July 1** **st** **to post the first chapter! And I'll make you a deal, everyone who reviews this with one particular detail you either loved or hated, and why (can be scene, my writing, anything) I will give you a preview of Wild Jace!**

Clary stood at the bench cleaning it in a state of utter distraction. She couldn't help the tearful sigh that escaped her lips. She had been cleaning the same spot for the last five minutes now but she was making no move to stop.

She couldn't tear her eyes away from the window that looked out over the street, the one that had the front door in its direct line of sight. The very quiet, very empty front door. She couldn't stop thinking about how she wished they were already back. It didn't matter that her and Jace weren't currently talking, just having him in the house and knowing he was safe was enough.

Standing there she couldn't even remember what the fight was about, she couldn't remember the lead up, she couldn't remember what words were yelled, or what things had been broken, but she could easily remember the aftermath.

" _Where are you going?" she couldn't keep the fear out of her voice._

" _I'm going to stay in the spare room for now." He did his best to keep the emotion out of his own voice, it was only on the last word that she heard the crack._

That was over a week ago. Eleven days to be exact. Ten nights. Ten nights alone in the room they had shared. Ten nights staring at the ceiling being unable to sleep.

She let him have one night and one day of peace before she tried to fix whatever had broken between them. She cooked breakfast lunch and dinner, killing two birds with one stone. She attempted to have Jace forgive her as well as keep Izzy out of the kitchen. Win-win.

She kept the place immaculate, picking up the clothes she would normally leave in the corner that Jace would lovingly moan about, cleaning her hair out of the drain, keeping her pastels and pencils in neat order instead of scattered around the place. She even put in more secret hours in the training room so that when it came time for their daily training session she would have improved greatly, and then he would be proud.

But her life wasn't a story book, and while her late night training sessions came in handy for extra practise they turned out to be the only practise she would be getting, considering he had failed to turn up to a single one.

But this morning had been the last straw. She had officially given up hope on what she could do to fix this. She couldn't help but think about what all of this could have meant. Her mind flew back to the morning after. The first morning she had gotten out of bed knowing Jace wouldn't be roaming the halls waiting for her to wake up.

 _Clary had laid awake all night, she was too wired to sleep, plus she didn't want to miss the moment the door would open and Jace would walk back through, climb into the bed and pull her into his warm embrace, she didn't think she had ever been that cold before. She had quickly realised her usual pyjama attire wouldn't be appropriate if she was going to be in the bed alone all night. Usually she wore a skimpy singlet and underwear, anything more would be too hot with Jace cocooned around her all night, but alone she was freezing._

 _Getting up she quickly dressed in her usual training/fighting gear, all black of course. She met the others in the main living room. Everyone was there joking around, Jace was the only one who didn't look up when she entered, but he didn't need to, she saw the way his body tensed when she entered. Instead of taking her usual spot beside him she went and sat on the floor next to Magnus. She slightly relaxed as he ran his fingers through her hair. It was calming to some degree but not enough._

 _It was only minutes later the call of some demon activity came through. Silently they all geared and runed up, Clary having Alec draw hers on._

 _It was safe to say that the hunt did not go as planned, and Clary would not be allowed to go on another hunt until whatever was going on between her and Jace was sorted out. Turns out when under emotional distress Jace becomes a much more lethal killer, and Clary becomes a much more distracted killer. Which is why she had spent that night being patched up by Magnus._

So, she had be stuck here in this stupidly clean house for the last week practising every move Jace had ever taught her, until she had perfected it.

And today when they had been called out on a hunt once again she did what she always did when they were to be separated. She grabbed her window markers out of the drawer and left him a message she knew he would see. 'be safe, I love you.' She left the marker there on the vanity under the mirror, awaiting his responding message. Normally it would say 'always, love you too." But she had her doubts about today's reply.

She heard the bathroom door close, she heard the bathroom door open, she heard the front door open, she heard the front door close, and she heard the silence that followed. It took all of her will to not run to the bathroom. She lasted eight and a half minutes.

Stepping inside she steeled herself for what she would see. Would he say he loved her? Would he say he hated her? Would he tell her to get out of the house before he returned? Spinning around she looked in the mirror and her heart stopped.

All she saw was herself and five words. Only five. The mirror read: 'be safe. I love you.' It was her writing. There was nothing else. No other words. No love, no hate, nothing. She could actually feel her heart breaking as she looked into her own reflection. She made no attempt to stop the tears. But then the anger came. Jumping up she ran to the laundry and grabbed the bottle of glass cleaner she kept to clean up hers and Jace's various messages.

Back in the bathroom she scrubbed every trace of her note from the mirror. By the time she was done her arms were aching, her breathing was laboured and her hair was everywhere, but the mirror was clean.

That was two hours ago. To distract herself she had taken to once again cleaning the entire house. The kitchen was last on her list, she had done most of it, now she was just left to her staring.

There was movement outside and suddenly the doorway was no longer empty. They were home. Normally she would have run for the door and waited to be pulled into a hug from Jace and a joke about how he was the best fighter of them all.

But she couldn't get the empty mirror out of her mind. So instead she fled in the other direction and ended up in the training room.

.o.O.o.

Eleven days. That's how long it had been since he had chosen to leave the room and stay in the spare. It had been eleven days of torture. He knew it was hurting her as much as him, but he couldn't go back. Not now. He had waited too long and he was sure she hated him by now. So instead he stabbed his blade so far through the demons throat that its head had become completely severed. And still even with the demon blood dripping from his blade, he couldn't erase the last words they had spoken from his mind.

" _Where are you going?" there was no mistaking the fear in her voice. She was scared and it was his fault._

 _He halted his stride when he too took in the utter, stomach clenching fear she unintentionally displayed. He knew he ought to turn around and go back to her, pull her into his arms and tell her everything would be ok, but right now he didn't know if that was true or not, and he knew without a doubt that she deserved more than a lie. So he kept walking. "I'm going to stay in the spare room for now." He did his best to keep the emotion out of his own voice, he got to the last word before he cracked. There was no more he would be able to say. Not tonight. So he kept walking._

Staring at the severed head rolling along the pavement he couldn't even recall what the fight had actually been about, he remembered the yelling and the tears, but no specifics. He spent the entire night sitting on the edge of the spare bed, coincidentally the room right next to theirs, staring at the wall that connected them. She was so close yet so far. And it was all of his fault. He knew he shouldn't have walked out. He knew he should go back in there right now and beg for forgiveness but he had to leave before he said something he seriously regretted and ruined things. He was also pretty sure she wouldn't want to see him and he couldn't deal with the rejection.

He had hoped the morning would bring some light to the situation. But instead Clary avoided him at all costs, any room he would walk into she would walk out of. They were never alone, she didn't want him anymore. He couldn't accept it.

She went overboard trying to be different and that was the scariest part. She cooked them all meals, yes it was great to keep Izzy out of the kitchen, but he knew how much she hated cooking. She picked up the clothes they would normally laugh about, she put away every pastel and pencil he would fiddle with when he couldn't think, she even changed her training times to stay away from him. The part that worried him most was that he was sure she wasn't sleeping at all. But there was nothing he could do to anymore. That was the worst part.

His mind flew back to the first hunt after their fight.

 _They were all gathered in the lounge when she walked in. he didn't need to look up to know it was her. He could feel her, he always could, ever since the first time he met her. It took every ounce of willpower he had to not look into her eyes, his body tensing with the effort it took to not turn his head. He felt another part of his heart break off when she chose to sit on the other side of the room by Magnus. He couldn't push down the wave of jealously that crashed over him as he saw how easily they interacted and how she relaxed as he stroked her hair. Luckily he couldn't dwell on it for long because that's when the call came through. Demon activity, no more than ten blocks away. They all_ _shifted into fight mode as they readied, Clary once again avoided him as she went to Alec instead to receive her runes. He ignored Alec's questioning look as he finished gearing up. This was not the time._

 _It turned out that fighting with the love of his life did wonders for his fighting ability, he could easily channel his inner turmoil into brute lethal-ness and was able to take down four demons singlehandedly whilst the others only had one to deal with each._

 _Turning around he watched his family risk their lives as they all took down their own demons, but he couldn't keep his eyes off Clary, he knew she wouldn't appreciate him interfering, especially after last night but he couldn't stop thinking about how her movements were all wrong, she was going to get himself hurt, and that was one thing he could not allow, whether they were together or not. He was almost at her side when the demon took advantage of her distracted mind and lunged at her._

 _Her wounds weren't life threatening, but they were enough to knock her unconscious, he couldn't hold back the gut wrenching cry that escaped. He had been so close that he caught her the second she started falling. Once again he had failed and Clary had been hurt because of him._

 _He didn't think he had ever run that fast before but they were quickly home and Magnus was working over her as he sat by her side. It was only when he was ordered to get out that he finally left her. They quickly decided that until Clary and Jace sorted this out, she was not to go on another hunt. They would have banned him too, but everyone knew he actually worked better like this and it would be stupid to stop him from coming._

It was this morning, eleven days later that he finally found hope again. All week he had given up hope that he could fix whatever he had broken, but once again Clary had saved him. He had been stuck alone in this scarily clean house for over a week and to say he missed his Clary would be an understatement, but it was as he was getting ready for today's hunt that he finally felt the crushing pressure leave his chest.

He had walked into the bathroom they still shared to be greeted by a message on the mirror. 'be safe. I love you.' This is what she always did before they were to be separated. He had walked in here with no expectations of a message, and yet here she was saving him all over again. She had even left the marker out for him to reply. He couldn't keep the smile off his face as he picked up his marker, ready to write his usual reply of: 'always, love you too.' But he couldn't bring himself to write it. if he was going to tell her he loved her again after so long apart he was going to do it in person. He refused to have her read it before he could say it. she deserved more than that. he didn't know what to write back that could convey all that he wanted to say. I'm sorry? We're ok? We'll talk when I get back? Nothing seemed good enough. He had now wasted so much time thinking about what to reply that he needed to leave and there was still nothing written.

Unfortunately her physical safety outranked his emotional right now and the group needed him. He would make it right when he got back, and he would be back soon. He knew it. So he left the bathroom and the mirror behind and ran for the group, he only saw a tiny flash of red before he was out the door and on the hunt.

Like he promised himself, the hunt didn't last long and they were back at the house within two hours. He made for the front door praying she would be waiting for him like she always did. But when he opened it he was greeted with an empty hallway. He tried to shake off the rejection that threatened to choke him as he made a beeline for their bedroom. She wasn't there. It was only then he realised what he had done.

She had given him the opportunity to make it ok and he had ruined it again. He was the one who rejected her this time. By not replying he had told her he didn't want her anymore. The knowledge only served to break his heart further. Without thinking he ran to the bathroom to write a reply, but the message was gone, there was no evidence it had ever been there, if it wasn't for the dirty paper towel in the bin beside the sink, he would be doubting if it had ever been there to begin with. Snatching up the pen he wrote his reply.

Then he went back in search for her. He didn't even need to think, he knew where she would be.

Stepping into the training room, he quickly hid himself from view and watched her go through the motions he himself had taught her. Each movement was beyond perfect, everything he knew about her flooded his mind. The cleaning, the cooking, the training. She wasn't changing for her, she was changing for him. This is what she thought he wanted. and for the nth time this week he had failed her.

He stood there, hidden for over an hour, watching the way she moved, every piece of her in perfect synchronisation, she looked even more graceful than…well him. Finally she finished and packed up, he prayed she was going to return to their room. She did.

Silently he followed her, always out of sight. With a prayer of thanks he watched her enter their bedroom. She didn't close the door fully, allowing him to see her make her way to the bathroom. He slipped back into the room and leant against the door as he closed it. Even if she ignored the message and refused to speak to him, he would still tell her what he had been wanting to say for the past eleven days.

Evidently it seemed he needed to stop doubting them. She was only in the bathroom for maybe thirty seconds before she was rushing back out and into the room. She skidded to a halt when she saw him waiting there.

Even sweaty and dazed, with her hair running wild, she was still the most beautiful thing in the world to him. Their eyes locked and he finally told her what they both needed to hear: "I love you." He only gave her a second before he moved in for her. It seemed she didn't even need the second. He heard her breath catch before she met him half way and they fell into each other.

There was nothing graceful about their reunion. It was all panting and limbs and kissing. But dear god the kissing. Jace couldn't recall it ever being this intense. But he realised they had never been so close yet so far apart for so long before. He also knew he wouldn't let it be like that again.

Taking a moment to catch his breath he caught sight of his message on the bathroom mirror: 'always…'

 **So? Love it? Hate it? Kill it with fire?**

 **Let me know!**

 **I enjoyed writing this so much and I really hope you guys love it! if not, cool, but please let me know why! I need your thoughts!**

 **Later Humans! Mwah**


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